Analyze the company operations dealing with international business practices and requirements - Essay Example

McDonald’s Expands Globally While Adjusting Its Local Recipe As McDonald’s has become one of the world’s most prestigious fast food chains, it has to consider how it conducts its business operation in foreign countries. Although McDonald’s is a U.S.-based firm, most of its stores and growth are located overseas. To simplify its business operations, McDonald’s has divided its stores into four separate areas: Europe, APEMA (Asia/Pacific, Middle East, and Africa), Latin America, and Canada.

Because of the wide range of cultures that McDonald’s deals with, there needs to be a business strategy for each location. APEMA is McDonald’s fastest growing region, so McDonald’s needs to take advantage of this by positioning itself within the market. No matter where McDonald’s is located, it keeps its core company values close to heart. However, McDonald’s also attempts to engage in the local culture by adapting its tastes and service to local traditions. McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in India back in 1996.

In recent years, there have been many competitors that have entered the Indian fast food market. However, the Indian demand for fast food has been growing by up to 40 percent annually. This means that McDonald’s has the potential to become a major force in the Indian fast food market for a long time to come. In order to make itself attractive for local demand, McDonald’s has lowered its prices in order to draw many new customers to its restaurants. More than this, McDonald’s has changed the way it produces it products by not using beef.

Hindu activists have strong concerns about how McDonald’s is affecting local consumers. To appease religious concerns, McDonald’s management posted signs stating that beef was not used in its products. Also, McDonald’s introduced the “green” kitchen and the “red” kitchen in order to give consumers a choice about whether they preferred meat or not. In China, McDonald’s has gone down the same route as India by conforming to local tastes. Just like its Indian operations, McDonald’s purchases up to 95% of its supplies from local sources.

This helps to allay any fears that activists may have against McDonald’s coming in and promoting “Western” values. Also, this supports the local economy because suppliers now have an outlet to sell their produce to. In Europe, McDonald’s has completely different issues to deal with. In France, for example, locals felt angered that McDonald’s was impacted French food culture in a negative way. To alleviate these fears, McDonald’s sold baguettes with ham and brie in order to cater to local tastes.

Also, McDonald’s completely redesigned the way it stores were presented. The McDonald’s restaurants in France don’t look like any other McDonald’s outlet. Also, McDonald’s chose to offer music through a combination of iPods and televisions. The response to this was overwhelming—some McDonald’s franchisees reported that their sales increased by up to 20 percent in response to these changes. McDonald’s has remained globally competitive due to its willingness to change and adapt to local tastes.

This has not been without difficulties; however, McDonald’s will always remain in the minds of consumers so long as it continues to innovate.